Preventing Extinctions - Europe and Central Asia

Europe is home to more than 520 regularly occurring wild bird species, with a total estimated breeding population of around two billion pairs. Millions more migrate through the continent on passage to Africa, whilst millions of others from the Arctic or Russia spend the winter in Europe.

Currently, 53 (10%) of these species are considered to be of global conservation concern, and are listed as Threatened or Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. These range from species endemic to single islands, to widespread species occurring in many countries.

BirdLife European and Central Asian Partners take action to improve the status of these species and prevent extinctions.

Assessing the status and habitats of all birds in Europe - The assessment is realised through the BirdLife project "Birds in Europe" and concluded by the production of a book with the same name, that contains the data collected through the multi-annual project. Two books have been produced so far and the next edition is expected in 2014.

Keeping common birds common - Common birds are often left aside from conservation measures because their status is better than other species. However, they suffer a large range of threats that can quickly make them loose their "common" status. In Europe and Central Asia, BirdLife Partners take action in order to avoid that human activity, climate change or other threats lead to a decrease of common bird populations and species.

Stichting BirdLife Europe gratefully acknowledges financial support from the European Commission. All content and opinions expressed on these pages are solely those of Stichting BirdLife Europe.

Every year in France, thousands of Ortolan Buntings are poached, mutilated and killed in breach of EU and national laws. On Thursday 4 September, the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO, BirdLife in France) members went on the offensive, to liberate captured birds and make formal accusations against poachers to the French authorities.